Associates

Craig Olear

Mr. Craig Olear is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), receiving his bachelor’s degree in Communication Media in 2009, and completing his master’s degree in Adult Education and Communications Technology in 2010. Craig has served as a graduate assistant for the past three years, leading him to work on exciting projects spanning across the field of communications. Currently, Craig is pursuing his doctoral degree in Communications Media and Instructional Technology at IUP. Despite his many projects, his main focus is nested in the development of the Kiski Virtual School for Boys, a synchronous learning, virtual world system aimed at bringing the best of the Kiski School, a private boys’ school located in Western Pennsylvania, to the home of boys across the nation. His role as a VERGE research associate is a multifaceted position that ranges from data collection to content development, leaving him to be a part of many aspects of VERGE ventures.

David L. Parrott

Mr. David Parrott completed a master’s degree in historical theology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1980. David has worked in the building trades post-graduation and did fiction writing on the side, self-publishing two mystery novels. David began a doctoral degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2010, with a research interest in virtual worlds, writing, and language studies.

Chris Carnahan

Mr. Chris Carnahan is currently completing his dissertation for his Ph.D. is Communications Media and Instructional Technology at IUP. Research interests include K-12 online education, special needs learners online, and the use of immersive learning simulations for education. In addition to this he has been an administrator for a cyber charter school for five years and has teacher and instructional technology specialist certifications.